Blood and Darkness
by jimra
Summary: Ranma, BSSM, and Hellsing crossed into what will eventually be a dark fic. Ranma and Minako get to know each other, and more. The fic should be getting a little darker; I hope you agree.
1. Chapter 1

Blood and Darkness

A crossover fanfic by jimra

I didn't come up with most of the characters in this fic, and would be a complete fool if I tried to claim them. Also, the timelines of these animes are a little mixed up, but of course, this is necessary to make the different animes mesh properly for my purposes.

Chapter One

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It was a cold, foggy night in London, but that was to be expected in the capital of Britain in late fall. What was strange was the small, ten-year-old girl running in the streets. To make the situation even stranger, the girl, who was obviously of asian origin, was wearing an orange-yellow sailor fuku and a white mask. To top it off, several men were running away from the small girl, all looking very scared. In general, if one didn't keep track of the news in London, the entire scene would have been rather comical.

The girl raised her hands and fired a thin beam of yellow energy at the fleeing men. The beam impacted the leading man in the back of his left knee, and he fell to the ground, crying out in pain. His two compatriots, failing to react in time to their leader's fall, tripped over his prone form and fell to the ground as well.

Smiling prettily as she caught up with the impromptu dog pile, the small girl, in a very cute voice, said, "You didn't really think you could get away from Sailor V, did you?"

In reply, one of the men groaned and pulled a small pistol from under his shirt. However, before he could take aim, Sailor V kicked him hard in the face saying, "Now that isn't very nice!"

The man groaned one more time before joining his friends in unconsciousness. A moment later, the sound of whistles keened through the foggy streets announcing the arrival of the police. As they came into view, Sailor V winked, blew them a kiss, and leapt to the roof tops. After all, she had a mysterious image to maintain!

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While Sailor V was making her final getaway from the scene of her latest crime-fighting endeavor, two figures were pulling themselves from the dark waters of the Thymes River. One was a small, red-haired girl in Chinese clothes, and the other, as unlikely as it may sound, was a large panda. Upon reaching the relatively dry bank, the girl immediately unpacked a small camp stove and, filling a small kettle from the river, heated some water. Once the water was warm, the girl poured half of the liquid in the container over her head, and the other half onto the panda. If anyone had been watching, they would have seen the amazingly strange sight of a girl becoming a boy and a panda becoming a man.

"Okay, Oyaji," said the girl-turned-boy. "We swam the English Channel! Aren't you satisfied with my physical fitness yet?"

"I'm tired, boy," replied the panda-turned-man. "We'll talk about it in the morning. For now, let's just find a place to sleep."

The boy had to admit his father had a point, so he dropped the issue. Instead, he asked, "What on earth are we doing in England anyway? I mean, you can't seriously expect to find good training grounds in western countries!"

The man smiled at his son's question. "An old friend of mine, Aino Shinji, has been staying here for a few years, and I wanted to see him again."

The two Japanese martial artists began walking as the older continued. "I gave him a phone call while we were passing through France, and he said that he would be delighted to have us drop by."

The boy could hardly keep from smiling as he thought of sleeping in a futon, or perhaps even a bed, after walking and swimming across half the world, and that curse he and his father picked up in China didn't help. The eleven year old still blamed his father for getting them into the whole mess at Jusenkyo.

"Well, what are we waiting for, Oyaji?" asked the boy. "Let's get moving!"

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The small group of officers that arrived to pick up after Sailor V began to pull the unconscious men from their pile and cuff them.

"Hey Kitten," said one of the officers, a middle-aged, balding man.

The nineteen-year-old, deep-strawberry-blond-haired girl took a moment to register that she was being spoken to, but after a moment spent blinking her sparkling blue eyes, she replied, "Sir?"

"Call in and get a wagon out here."

"Yes sir," the girl replied. Speaking into her radio, she said, "This is Cadet-Officer Victoria. Send a wagon and some paramedics to our location."

The reply was brief and to the point, "Ten four, Cadet-Officer."

Suddenly, Victoria saw a giant plume of fire bloom several blocks away. Before anyone could say a word, she was off at a run.

"Victoria!" called the balding man. "Where are you going? Get back here, Victoria! Seras!!"

Seras Victoria was already out of earshot by the time her superior was calling her.

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Since the police would take care of the burglars she had knocked out, Sailor V decided to continue her patrol of the city streets. It wasn't long before she spotted a woman robbing a small convenience store at gun point, and of course, the pretty heroine of London swept into action once more. The woman, seeing the fuku-clad girl, immediately abandoned her crime and raced out of the door. She led Sailor V on a merry chase through the streets of London, managing to avoid the small girl's beam attacks.

Finally, the woman ducked into a very dark alley with the little heroine hot on her heels. Unfortunately for that same small heroine, the alley turned out to be a bad place to go. She skidded to a halt as she saw the daemon, but was too late to save the relatively innocent armed robber. The thing's tentacles tore the unfortunate woman apart, spraying blood and entrails into the air. Sailor V, having no experience with anything of true, complete evil, did what any ten-year-old girl would do when confronted with a gruesome hell spawn that had just begun to devour its human prey: she panicked.

Screaming at the top of her lungs, she began to throw her power at the creature, but in her hysteria, she missed. The beam lanced through the street and into a gas line. The resulting explosion was quite impressive, but the creature was only angered by the conflagration behind it.

Tears streaming from her eyes, the small Sailor V truly believed that this would probably be the end of her short career as a heroine.

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The boy and his father, who had recently been the girl and her panda, were jogging the streets of London on their way to the older man's friend's home when a huge explosion drew their attention.

"Kami-sama, what was that?" asked the boy in an astonished voice.

"I don't know boy," replied the man. "But you know our duty."

"Right," the boy said in a solemn voice. "It is the duty of a true martial artist to protect the weak."

Without another word, the pair changed direction and headed toward the fading fireball.

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As Cadet-Officer Seras Victoria approached the scene of the explosion, she pulled her club from its belt loop and again mentally cursed the British government regarding their total ban on firearms. Those curses became audible when she saw what was at the site: a small girl wearing a sailor fuku was dodging a tentacled horror while firing small beams of yellow energy into the creature. The fact that the beams didn't seem to do much more than anger the creature forced her to reevaluate her decision to rush into the fray; however, before she could think of a way to help the beleaguered Sailor V, a man and a boy rushed into the scene, the boy shouting something in Japanese. All Seras could do was watch and wait for an opportunity to help.

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"What the hell is that?" the boy yelled to his father as the scene came into view.

"I have no clue, Ranma," replied the man. "But this is what the Forbidden Techniques are for! You have my permission to use the Yamasenken in this fight."

A smirk somewhat too evil for an eleven-year-old boy blossomed on Ranma's face, and he called out, "Well, what are we waiting for? That girl could get killed out there!"

With the answering nod from his father, the pair raced into the battle.

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The battle was not going well for little Sailor V, and she had almost given up hope when she heard the cry from behind her.

"Kijin Raishuu Dan!"

The girl barely registered that the voice belonged to a boy before a distortion ripped through the air beside her head and separated a slime-covered tentacle from the monster's body. The creature cried out in pain as black ichor sprayed from the wound, covering the street in slime; however, Sailor V wasn't slow on the uptake. She actually had reinforcements, and they could do some serious damage! Capitalizing on the opportunity, the fuku clad girl fired a full-power beam into the gaping wound and was rewarded by another unearthly shriek of pain from the tentacled horror.

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Seras mouth hung open as the three redoubled their attacks on the hell spawn, and somewhere in her stunned mind, she wished she could do something to help. The three heroes were taking the creature apart, piece by piece, but that didn't mean that they weren't taking any hits themselves. After his first attack, the younger of the two reinforcements to Sailor V's battle rushed in close, only to be smashed mercilessly into the pavement by a tentacle. The boy was definitely unconscious, and he was definitely in trouble, as the other two were battling five tentacles each.

With a slight nod, Seras made her decision, and she rushed forward before her brain could bring small things like her self-preservation instinct to bear. Beating back a wounded tentacle with her club, she reached the unconscious boy and quickly tossed him over her shoulder. After securing her limp cargo, Seras beat a hasty retreat.

When she finally reached the end of the alley, the young Cadet-Officer collapsed to the rough pavement, careful to keep the boy from striking the ground. When she had finally caught her breath enough to look back at the fight, it was nearing its conclusion. Sailor V was down, but the older man was steadily defying reason with his attacks, and the tentacle-covered creature was barely moving. Finally, the man shouted something she couldn't understand and plunged his arm up to the elbow into the hell spawn's center. The thing convulsed one more time, allowing one more unearthly scream to rend the air before it finally lay still.

The creature's form then began to melt into a steaming puddle of black ichor, but the man had already turned away from it. When he reached the unconscious form of Sailor V, the man gently picked her up off the street, and cradling the limp girl in his arms, he made his way to were Seras was sitting with his son.

"Thank you for saving my son," said the man in passable, if heavily accented, English.

"J—just doing my job," Seras replied, breathlessly. "Thank you for helping to kill that thing, Mr…."

"Saotome," the man answered her question. "Sao—err, Genma Saotome."

Genma knelt down to examine his son's unconscious form, and apparently finding no serious injuries, he unceremoniously threw the small boy over his shoulder like a sack of flour. "Once again, thank you for your assistance, but I must be going."

"Wait!" Seras called to the departing man. "How did you do all of that?"

As Genma replied, Seras fell into step with him. "Those were martial arts techniques I invented myself." There was no small measure of pride in his voice.

"Unfortunately, Ms…" prompted Genma.

"Victoria," supplied Seras.

"Unfortunately, Ms. Victoria, I have a long way to go tonight, and I shall have to take my leave of you. Have a good evening."

With that, Genma leapt from the street onto a second-story roof and set off at a run. He didn't even look like he noticed that he still carried the unconscious form of Sailor V under one arm.

The young officer-in-training was left open-mouthed once more as she watched the elder Saotome jump from roof to roof until he was out of sight.

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Author's Notes:

Not much to say. It's just a minor revision, so enjoy. Ja, minna.


	2. Chapter 2

Blood and Darkness

A crossover fanfic by jimra

I didn't come up with most of the characters in this fic, and would be a complete fool if I tried to claim them. Also, the timelines of these animes are a little mixed up, but of course, this is necessary to make the different animes mesh properly for my purposes.

Chapter Two

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Artemis paced quietly on Aino Minako's bed. The small white cat was worried, and when he was worried, he talked to himself. "Where the heck are you, Mina-chan…? You should have been home hours ago. Damn it, I'm gonna kill that girl!"

The cat's tenor voice varied between worry and anger in a way worthy of a concerned parent; this had been going on for some time. Finally, Artemis stopped mumbling and slumped to the comforter. The small moon cat sighed; he was getting too old to deal with this.

After a few moments more of self-pity, he stood and started to pace once again. He was just into his third lap of Minako's bed when a quiet sound on the roof claimed his attention. Artemis raced to the window just in time to see a dirty white blur drop from the roof to the ground, resolving itself into a gi-clad man. However, the instant the man came into view, the white cat's fur bristled, because under one of his arms he held an unconscious Sailor V.

"If that guy hurt my Mina-chan…" the cat growled, letting the sentence trail off. But as he watched, V's eyes slowly opened. Artemis was mildly relieved by this, but he still kept his eyes trained on the man holding the small heroine.

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For a little while, V was dreaming that she could fly. It was such a wonderful dream; even though she was an honest to God magical girl super hero, she still couldn't fly. And, like most children, she had always wanted to. Regardless of the fact that she knew flying was outside the realm of her abilities as Sailor V, Minako relaxed and enjoyed the sensation. That is, she enjoyed it until she opened her eyes briefly.

The little girl gasped, shutting her eyes tightly; looking down twelve stories to the street is not a good way to wake up. Slowly, she became aware that she was being carried, and her fright receded a bit, only to come back in full force as she remembered the battle with the hell spawn earlier that night.

'What if that…thing…is carrying me?' the little girl thought fearfully, but she couldn't seem to force her eyes to open again.

Abruptly, the feeling of motion, of flying uncontrolled through the air far above the streets, came to a halt, and V slightly opened one eye to see just how much trouble she was in. Through that one eye, she finally saw who had been carrying her, and she relaxed visibly. It was the man who had helped her kill the creature, and as she opened the other eye, she spotted the boy lying slumped over the man's shoulder. But just as V began to relax, she finally noticed the location of their odd trio. It was her house.

A small 'eep' escaped her lips, and she immediately tried to get down. This had the effect of making her carrier lose his grip and drop the panicking girl. Lying on the ground after the slightly painful fall, a fresh wave of fear ran over her as the front light of her house flicked on. The little heroine was on her feet in a flash, and since she was panicking, she spoke to her savior in her native Japanese. "SorryforallthetroublethankyouforsavingmeI'vegottagobye!"

And with that, V was off. If she had looked back, she would have seen a very confused man in the dirty white gi and her father watching her until she was out of sight.

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Saotome Genma watched the little girl he'd inadvertently given a ride speak very rapidly in Japanese and then take off like a shot around the corner of the house just as his old friend Shinji answered the door. Shrugging at the odd display, Genma turned to his friend with a smile. "Aino-kun, it's been so long!"

Aino Shinji could only stare at the man before him for a moment. Genma's white gi, already dirty from swimming the Channel, was now stained with black ichor and a bit of blood. The man had lost his bandanna sometime during the fight, and his bald head shown in the street lamps. Lastly, a black and red bundle thrown across his shoulder slowly resolved itself into a boy of about ten or eleven years, also dirty and covered in blood and ichor, completing the disturbing vision.

"S—Saotome-kun?" Shinji managed to stutter out before regaining his wits. Finally, the man greeted his friend. "Saotome-kun, what on earth happened to you? You look terrible! Please, come in, but I would ask that you wash up before we talk about old times."

Grinning slightly at the thought of a hot bath, Genma happily accepted his friend's demand. With that, Shinji motioned for the two Saotomes to enter his home.

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Artemis had just lost sight of V and the man in the semi-white gi when another noise from outside, a slight tapping, caught his attention. He looked up and literally jumped three feet into the air. Sailor V was standing on the ledge outside the window.

"Don't DO that!" he yelled at V as he opened the window, but his tone immediately became soothing as he watched his young charge burst into tears after coming in the window and collapsing on her bed.

"Mina," the white moon cat said. "Mina-chan, what happened? Why are you crying?"

In a brief flash of light, V's sailor fuku vanished revealing Aino Minako. The girl, still crying, reached out and pulled Artemis into a hug, petting the small white cat.

"There there, Mina-chan," said Artemis as he nuzzled the girl. "I'm sure everything will be alright, but you have to tell me what happened."

It took a few more minutes of petting and hugging for Minako to get her emotions under control, but as with all cats, Artemis couldn't help but love the attention, purring loudly. When the girl finally sat up, Artemis slipped out of her embrace and sat facing his young charge.

"It'll be alright, Minako," said Artemis, quietly. "What happened?"

"It…it was te—terrible." Minako slowly told the venusian guardian about the night's events in a small, tremulous voice. She almost burst into tears again when she talked about the monster and the thief, but Artemis, picking up on Minako's emotions, quickly climbed into the girl's lap to comfort her. Petting her kawaii little kitty (at least, that's what he would like to think), the blonde managed to finish the story.

By the time Minako finished her story, Artemis had a very serious expression on his face, not that it was particularly apparent on a feline. Intent on telling his charge what he knew of the new threat, the small cat turned to face Minako…and bit his tongue. The exhausted look on the blonde's face was all he needed to see.

"Minako," Artemis said in a gentle voice. "You should get some sleep."

"But I ne—" Minako tried to argue, but a yawn cut her off.

Artemis did his best impression of a smile and said, "See, you're exhausted. We can't have Sailor V go to work baggy-eyed tomorrow, now can we?"

The little cat had to avoid a quick pillow swipe, but other than that, Minako complied with his request. Curling up at the small girl's side, Artemis tried to join her in blissful sleep, but her story kept Morpheus away for quite a while, due both to its horrifying, disturbing visage and its implication

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Genma stood under the relaxing, hot blast of a western-style shower. Living in England, Shinji didn't have access to more civilized ways of bathing, like a proper furo or bathhouse, but in his current state, the elder Saotome didn't care. After waking his son, Genma had allowed him the first shower, and now his son was waiting in the Aino guest bedroom.

'It's happening again.' Genma's thoughts returned to the creature he had fought earlier that night and to the difficulty he'd had in defeating it. 'If it weren't for the boy and that little girl, I couldn't have gotten close enough to beat it. If that police girl hadn't gotten Ranma, I wouldn't have a son now.'

Thinking that he probably shouldn't wait too long before joining his son, the bald martial artist quickly finished scrubbing the last traces of hell spawn ichor from his skin before turning off the water. After drying and dressing in a clean gi from his pack, Genma walked to the Aino guest bedroom. There he found that his boy wouldn't be asked any awkward questions. Father grinned at son, as the child lay sprawled across the western-style bed, sound asleep.

'Ah well, the boy has every right to be tired,' Genma thought, with similar sentiments. 'But, I really should go properly greet Aino-kun.'

Genma switched out the light and quietly closed the door. Then the Saotome patriarch walked down the stairs and hall, looking for his friend.

The Aino home was a town house, one of five all built in a row, near downtown London. The old structure had three levels: the first contained the common living areas, the second, bedrooms for the Ainos and the guest bedroom plus another room they used as a library, and the third was a finished attic changed into little Minako's bedroom.

Genma didn't intrude into the other bedroom on the second floor; he didn't want to disturb Shinji's wife. Instead, the man walked to the first floor.

The first floor was divided into a foyer, sitting room, dining room, and kitchen. The main stairs ended in the foyer, while there was also a servant staircase that went through the kitchen. Genma walked down the main stairs into the foyer and began looking for his friend. In the end, after searching every other room, Genma finally found Shinji in the kitchen, the other man sitting at the table with a steaming mug in hand.

"Saotome-kun," said Shinji with a smile. "It's been quite a while. Would you care for some tea? I apologize that we don't have a real tea set, but ours is staying with Achika's parents back in Japan."

Pulling up a chair, Genma sat down. "Thank you, Aino-kun. I would very much enjoy some tea…although, sake would probably be better after the night I've had."

Shinji picked up a teapot sitting on the table and poured a second mug of tea. Handing the mug to his friend, the Aino patriarch walked over to the refrigerator and extracted a bottle of sake.

"Actually," he said, setting the bottle on the table. "I thought you might, the way you looked when you showed up, so I ran to an all-night market and picked some up while you and your son were getting cleaned up."

"Thank you, Aino-kun," replied the elder Saotome. As he spoke, Shinji poured some hot water into a bowl to heat the sake. For a short while, neither man spoke. Finally, Aino poured some sake into two small ceramic cups and offered one to his friend.

"Thank you again, Aino-kun," said Genma as he took the cup, downing the rice wine in a long sip. "Not as good as back home, but still, it's been a long time since I've had any sake."

Shinji took the Genma's cup and refilled it. "That is certainly true. Saotome-kun, what happened tonight? What could have possibly left you in such a state?"

"Well, Aino-kun," Genma began. "First, we didn't look too good after swimming the channel, but that isn't the worst of it. Ranma and I ran into a daemon on the way here."

The Saotome patriarch continued by telling Shinji of the night's events, and Shinji was left gaping when Genma said that he and his son had swam across the English Channel. After the bald man finished his monologue regarding the hell spawn, Shinji's eyes were wide and his mouth agape.

Downing his fourth cup of sake, Genma finished his story with, "But enough about us. How is your family doing?"

It took a moment for the Aino patriarch to gather his wits after Genma's story. Shinji knew that Genma would lie and exaggerate to get his way with strangers or during some game, but the other man had never lied to Shinji when it regarded anything important. In any case, a run in with a daemon was about the only thing that could account for all the blood and ichor on the two Saotomes when they arrived.

In the end, Shinji simply sighed. "I guess you're tired from your journey, Saotome-kun. Maybe we should finish catching up tomorrow."

"That sounds like a good plan, Aino-kun," Genma replied. "I thank you for your hospitality, my friend."

"Its no trouble," Shinji said, waving his friend off to bed. The elder Saotome, looking very tired, wasted no time in leaving Shinji alone in the kitchen.

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Once Genma had left, Shinji sat for a short while, sipping his tea and thinking. 'I don't like this. Every time Saotome-kun told me something like that, it only got worse.'

Thinking back to their high school days, Shinji remembered the first time Genma told him that a daemon was in the area. Shortly there after, a rash of killings had struck Juuban, but the authorities never found the killer. Supposedly, the culprit in those crimes was still at large, but the Aino patriarch knew better. He'd been in the old warehouse to see the master of the Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu, along with his recent disciples Saotome Genma and Tendo Soun, battle the monster responsible for so many deaths.

Later in life, just after Shinji had married Achiko, Genma had visited once again, and again, in an eerie parallel with the last time, a rash of killings descended on Juuban. This time, Genma defeated the hell spawn himself, and Shinji could only admire the prowess his friend showed in killing these creatures of the night.

Now, after the Aino family had left Japan, Genma visited once more, and again, a new daemon showed itself. 'At least this time,' thought Shinji, 'Genma killed it before it could kill more that one or two people.'

Still, as Shinji put away the tea and sake sets and made his way to the bedroom he shared with his wife, he couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that had come over him when Genma told his story. 'Something is going to happen,' he thought. 'Something bad….'

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Genma left Shinji in the kitchen and walked slowly up the stairs to the guest room he would be sharing with his son. Since fighting the hell spawn earlier, he'd felt it.

'There are more daemons in this city,' Genma thought as he opened the door to the guest room and saw his son still sleeping on the western-style bed. 'I've fought too many not to know this feeling. This is going to get worse…much worse.'

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Author's Notes:

Just a minor revision, so enjoy. Ja minna.


	3. Chapter 3

Blood and Darkness

A crossover fanfic by jimra

I don't own 'em; lets just leave it at that. Also, the timelines of the animes I'm crossing are a little skewed, but if you didn't know that I'd have to tell you to go back and read from chapter one.

Chapter Three

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Dawn broke on London slowly, the rays of sunlight having difficulty penetrating the grey cloud cover above. While most citizens of the city were just waking up or maybe enjoying their first cup of coffee for the morning, dawn found two of the city's new visitors already up.

Genma and Ranma stood on the roof of the Aino townhouse, but that position was very brief. If one had looked only a second before or waited only a second more, the two vanished into a blur of attacks and blocks, leaping from point to point on the dew-slicked shingles. The loud sounds of flesh hitting flesh could be heard all the way to the street, and the traditional Saotome morning sparring session was drawing quite a crowd of spectators on the little street in Britain's capital. Among the spectators were Aino Shinji and his wife, but they were the only ones not particularly surprised by the battle taking place on their roof.

For a moment, the combatants paused again, and Genma took this opportunity to yell, "Ranma! You're getting sloppy!"

Of course, this was in Japanese, so very few of the spectators could understand either Genma's shout or the boy's reply of "Look who's talking, Oyaji!"

To most of the people watching, it must have seemed like watching a kung fu movie live or some sort of publicity stunt, but the Ainos knew better. While Shinji hadn't met Genma's son before, he knew that if Ranma was anything like his old friend, the boy's prowess would be phenomenal. Of course, all one had to do to judge the boy's ability was to watch the match. Speaking of which, it had actually moved across the street at this point.

Finally, after another thirty minutes of this, the Saotomes returned to the Aino home. Of course, Shinji didn't know that the red-haired girl and the panda who walked into his house were actually Genma and Ranma….

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"GAAAAHHH!!"

Shinji was finally enjoying his first cup of coffee when Achika screamed. Jumping up from his seat in the living room, that nice, freshly brewed coffee became a decoration on the front of his shirt, but the Aino man made it half way to the foyer before realizing the coffee was very, very hot.

"YEEOWW!"

So there was the scene in the foyer: one girl and one panda with inwardly sardonic, exasperated looks in their eyes (though how one could see a sardonic expression or exasperation in the eyes of a panda, no one could guess), one Aino Achika, almost hysterical about the panda and redhead who just walked into her house, dripping no less, and one Aino Shinji hopping around like a lunatic trying to blow on the front of his shirt and pants. As one might imagine, this was a wonderful thing of absolute chaos for Aino Minako to walk in to with her small cat, Artemis, in her arms.

"C—c—c—Ca—Ca—CAAAAAT!!!!"

Well, there really was no way she could have known that the redhead was ailurophobic.

Finally, everything seemed to start to settle down…well sort of. Shinji had finally stopped hopping around like a loon and decided his next step was to stare at the strange twosome that had entered his house. The panda now looked ashamed (somehow, don't ask me how) as he looked up at the red-haired girl clinging to the ceiling, and Achika just decided the whole thing was too much for her and fainted. Little Minako and Artemis could only sweat drop.

Getting hold of his senses, Shinji turned to his daughter. "Mina-chan, could you take Artemis and go upstairs?"

Minako nodded and turned, walking back up the stairs while her father tried to make sense of this madness. With the cat gone, the redhead dropped from the ceiling and faced the Aino patriarch.

"Who on earth are you?!" was Shinji's exasperated cry, speaking his native language in his shock.

Surprisingly, the redhead replied in the same tongue with a sullen and definitely unhappy voice. "I'm Saotome Ranma. Sorry about this."

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A few baths and the application of some smelling salts later, the entire Aino and Saotome clans present in Britain sat around the Ainos' kitchen table. Shinji sat at the head flanked on the right by his wife and on the left, his daughter. The Saotomes faced the Ainos from the other end, Genma on the end with his son to his left

"Alright," began Shinji, his voice tired despite the early hour. "Maybe you could explain this to us, Saotome-kun."

Genma sighed; the first time was always the hardest. Seeing as how there had been no time to make formal introductions the night before, Genma decided that such an introduction would be the best way to start. In a similarly tired tone, the Saotome patriarch began. "I am Saotome Genma, and this is my son."

"Ranma," the boy put in, his voice no less sullen now that he was male once more.

Recognizing this to be a formal introduction, Shinji immediately replied for his family. "I am Aino Shinji." Gesturing to each of his family members in turn, the Aino patriarch introduced them as well. "This is my wife, Achika, and my daughter, Minako."

Genma, nodding to each member of the Aino household in acceptance of Shinji's introduction of his family, continued. "About a year ago, Ranma and I were traveling through China. There, in a secluded valley within Qinghai province known to the locals as Jusendo, we came upon the training ground of accursed springs: Jusenkyo."

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As his father told the story of how they were cursed, Ranma allowed his mind to wander, but since the subject of the conversation was Jusenkyo, the dark-haired boy found himself slipping into a vivid reverie of what had occurred at the Cursed Training Ground.

The morning sparring session had been cut short due to their proximity to their destination, and now Ranma was running behind his father to reach Jusenkyo in time to train a little bit before lunch, so to the younger Saotome, this was the perfect time to tease his father.

"Hey Tousan!" called Ranma as he jumped at his father's back. "Betcha I can make it to the training ground before you!"

With that, Ranma landed a hard jump kick in his father's back, driving the older man to one knee. Without waiting, the young martial artist sprang from his perch on Genma's shoulder blade and raced forward. Hearing a growl that only he could tell was in good humor, Ranma pushed himself to a sprint, his father close behind.

This was a common game between the two Saotomes. Genma had long ago instilled in Ranma the importance of everything being training, and Ranma took to the philosophy like a carpenter bee to cedar. So the two Saotomes traveled the last six kilometers to Jusenkyo at a sprint, Ranma grinning widely the whole way.

Finally, Ranma jumped over a final rise, and as he skidded down the rock-strewn slope beyond, he got his first look at Jusenkyo. Small, shallow pools were strewn across the slightly rolling landscape with two or three bamboo poles standing in each, and thin wisps of mist curled lazily around each pole's base just above the surface of the springs. The sight was almost mystical in nature, and Ranma stood entranced by its mysterious beauty. That is, until Genma slammed into his back.

Climbing back to his feet and dusting himself off, Ranma turned to his father. "Hey!" he cried in a loud, annoyed voice. "Watch where you're going, Oyaji!"

However annoyed Ranma sounded, he couldn't stay too mad at the older man, not since they had finally arrived. A smile quickly overtook the pigtailed boy's angry expression, and after a moment he said, "Oh forget it. C'mon Tousan! Let's take a look!"

Ranma caught a happy, if exasperated, expression briefly crossing Genma's face as the older man shook his head before the young martial artist turned away and raced toward the nearest spring, another wide grin plastered on his own face.

Just as Ranma reached the edge of the nearest spring and prepared to leap to the first bamboo pole, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning to give his father some kind of scathing insult for interrupting him when he was just about to start training, Ranma was caught completely flat footed by the fat Chinese man in a green Mao suit who held the young boy's shoulder.

"Is not good you train here," said the fat man in a worried but kind voice. "Fall in spring very tragic. At least no train here until know what risk."

Before Ranma could reply, Genma caught up with his son. "Who are you?" he asked the Chinese man. "What do you want?"

"I was warning young sir about train here," replied the man in broken, accented Japanese. "I Guide here, so is important I warn all customer about tragedy of springs. If you want train after that, I no can stop, but at least listen before train."

Nodding slowly as the Guide spoke, Genma spoke in a neutral voice. "It's probably a good idea to listen to a native before making some sort of mistake. Alright, we'll listen to your warnings. But let's do it over lunch; I'm starved."

At the mention of food, Ranma nodded enthusiastically, thoughts of training pushed to the side. Breakfast had been its usual, lean affair, and a six kilometer sprint can definitely work up an appetite. The Guide nodded as well. "Mr. Customers please follow me. I just cooking and be honored if Mr. Customers join me."

Never ones to pass up a free meal, both Saotomes nodded eagerly, and so it came to pass that the three were sitting around a crude wooden table in the Guide's hut, pleasantly full of rice and grilled fish. It was in this situation that the Guide began to speak of the training ground and the springs contained therein.

"I very glad you listen," began the Guide. "It is very good thing. I no like having to help poor, tragic customer who get cursed. Is much better you listen before."

Before the Guide could continue, Genma spoke in somewhat broken and heavily-accented Mandarin. "What you mean, cursed? I thought this just famous training ground."

"Ah, you know my native tongue," replied the Guide, much more eloquent in his own language. "This will make explaining much easier. It is very difficult to speak Japanese when I get so little practice, but very few foreign visitors to Jusenkyo can speak Mandarin, so I try to keep up my practice alone."

"Son and I know little Mandarin, but please go slow. Not best language."

The Guide nodded in a way that said he didn't hold it against the Saotomes that they weren't entirely fluent, especially since he certainly wasn't fluent in Japanese. "This is not a problem, honored Customers. As for cursed, yes, Jusenkyo is the Training Ground of Accursed Springs. Each spring here has its own tragic story and curse."

As he spoke, the Guide pulled a long-stemmed pipe from his coat, and after filling it with dark tobacco, he paused to light it with a match. Once the blue-grey smoke was curling lazily from the bowl, and he'd taken a few light puffs from the slightly curved stem, the Chinese man continued. "Over the course of the last five thousand years or more, the springs of Jusenkyo have claimed many victims, either by curse or death. No one knows how the area actually became the accursed place it is now, but when my family came to live in Jusendo nearly four thousand years ago, we became the Guides and Guardians of the cursed ground."

Taking another puff from his pipe, the Guide allowed his words to sink in, his guests almost visibly digesting the information. After a moment more of quiet contemplation, he spoke again. "The oldest cursed springs were here even when my family arrived, so we don't know how old they actually are. However, since then my family has kept a record of every cursed spring and every individual cursed by them. The register of Jusenkyo is indeed a long one, and the map is an ancient treasure to all who would come to this training ground."

Unable to contain his impatience, Ranma spoke as the Guide took another puff from his pipe. "Get to point! Don't care what happen thousand year ago. What curse?"

The Chinese man almost frowned at the impertinence of the dark-haired child, but he didn't seem to be truly angry at the pigtailed boy. Smiling slightly, the Guide replied to Ranma's rude question with kind words. "Such impatience, young customer, and such curiosity. Very well, I shall tell you of the curses. Each spring was once uncursed, but like a beast hungering for the flesh of its prey, it would drown the first creature to touch its seemingly placid surface. After that, any being, man or beast, that touched the water of that spring would be cursed to take the form of the creature that drowned in that spring with only a splash of cold water. Hot water will return the cursed individual to their original form, but only until the next splash of cold water."

With a vaguely satisfied expression, the Guide watched as his guests digested the truth of the cursed training ground. Ranma stared at the Guide with a somewhat puzzled expression. He didn't entirely understand what the Guide was saying, but one look at the horrified expression on his father's face was enough to let him know it was bad. Genma's face was a study in amazed horror, and Ranma quickly realized that training here would be a bad thing. The young martial artist turned back to the Guide in time to see him absently nodding at their reactions.

"Yes," he said gravely. "It would be very bad, very tragic, for you to train here. Most people who come here do not listen; you are very fortunate."

Ranma and Genma could only nod silently.

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Unbeknownst to the trio in the Guide's hut, some distance away an ancient ceremony was being performed. Side by side, the Emperor of the Musk Dynasty and the ancient Matriarch of the Joketsuzoku stood to pass judgment. The most ancient laws of Jusendo had been broken, and they were here to punish the one who would anger both the Joketsuzoku and the Musk.

Standing before two of the most powerful humans on Earth, the younger Amazon still stood defiantly. Her purple hair hung to the small of her back and swayed slightly in the almost non-existent breeze. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears, but she would not cry. As the two leaders stared at her with enough anger to burn holes through stone, she drew herself up and squared her shoulders proudly, staring back with equal intensity. Regardless of her crime, she would acquit herself as a Joketsuzoku to the end.

"Shampoo of the Nyuucheizu Joketsuzoku," the ancient Matriarch began, solemnly. "You have done the unthinkable, violated not only the most ancient laws of the Amazons, but those of Jusendo itself. In walking on the forbidden ground, you may have freed the creature once more. If this is so, countless lives will be lost by all in Jusendo."

The wizened old woman allowed her words to sink into the young warrior. Shampoo struggled to control herself as she listened to her great grandmother, each word like an ember dragged across her skin. Her emotional control almost slipped, but she pulled herself back together. 'I am a full warrior of the Nyuucheizu Joketsuzoku!' she thought, the words a shout against the growing fear in her mind. 'I will remain in control. A warrior without control becomes weak, and weakness cannot exist within a Joketsuzoku.'

Just as she finished shoring up her courage, the Emperor of the Musk began to speak, his deep voice resonating with quiet confidence and deep anger. "You are accused of entering the forbidden temple and disturbing the rest of the Destroyer. You may have doomed us all. Do you have anything to say before we begin the trial?"

Shampoo had to take a deep breath to once more bring her emotions under control, but once she had, the lavender-haired warrior stood proudly once more. "I have nothing to say, Your Majesty." Shampoo was proud; her voice barely shook as she answered Emperor Herb XIX. Even more, she thought she saw a bit of pride peek through her great grandmother's angry expression. For a brief moment, the young Joketsuzoku smiled inwardly; she would be a proud Amazon to the end...not that the end was too far away.

"Very well then," replied Cologne. "Let the trial of Jusenkyo begin!"

With those words, Shampoo had to make an immediate parry as the elder attempted to end the combat quickly using a strike to her sternum with enough force to crack each and every rib. Knowing she was outclassed by even one of the two she faced, Shampoo took the only rational option: she retreated. Since the girl's back had been to Jusenkyo for the duration of the leaders' speech, that meant entering the cursed training ground. Of course, this was the point of the trial.

The long-haired warrior leapt from the ground to the nearest pole, but she couldn't stay there long. The Emperor jumped to another pole to her right and drew his sword, the blade glistening in the morning sunlight. Shampoo almost turned to face him, but at the last moment she jumped from her pole, instinct warning her of her great grandmother's staff. A split second later, the pole she had been standing on fell into the pool below, severed neatly.

Leaping from pole to pole, the battle raged over Jusenkyo. Even though they were usually enemies, the two leaders worked in the compete unison that spoke of many years of real battle experience. Sometimes they would attack her at once, and other times one would distract her while the other would attempt to backstab her. Slowly but surely, the battle made its way across the cursed training ground toward the Guide's hut.

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The sound of fighting drew Ranma from the Guide's hut, followed closely by his father and the Guide himself. Once outside, Ranma stopped cold. A duel was occurring above Jusenkyo; a duel of three very skilled fighters. A wrinkled creature and a tall man with long, flowing cyan hair were pressing a young woman hard, and she seemed about to succumb to their assault at any moment.

Ranma's small face twisted into a scowl as he watched the two attack once again, the man using a long, double-edged tai chi sword and the wrinkled creature, a staff. Watching this, the young martial artist's blood began to boil. This was the very definition of unfair, and Ranma wasn't one to allow some girl to face death at the hands of two obviously dishonorable people like them.

The dark-haired boy heard the Guide say something in Mandarin, but he was too angry to translate. Before anyone could move and heedless of the danger, Ranma leapt to the nearest pole and began jumping his way toward the battle.

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Shampoo jumped again just before yet another pole splintered under her great grandmother's staff. The thirteen-year-old girl was breathing hard, and she knew she was slowly but surely failing under the assault of the leaders of Jusendo. Dodging another slash and stab combination from the Musk Emperor, she thought, 'And they aren't even using half their skill! If they were using more, the battle would have long been over.'

Before the lavender-haired girl could think any more, her great grandmother pressed the attack. Shampoo put all her skill, all her strength, all of her being into parrying and dodging the wizened elder's attacks, but it wasn't nearly enough. In her tired state, hits were getting through, and Shampoo was painfully reminded of the old adage 'The more that hit the more that will.'

As the old woman pummeled the younger with her gnarled staff, Shampoo felt a sudden urge to jump. Never one to ignore her instincts, the girl did so. A split second later a small ball of chi slashed through the space she had just occupied.

'They're upping the stakes,' Shampoo thought grimly. 'If they keep increasing the difficulty, I'm not going to last much longer.

In the time she took to think that, the Emperor had already crossed the distance between them and was once again slashing at her, the lightning-quick blows barely missing. Finally, Shampoo saw her end. The Emperor's sword began to glow the soft orange of the man's aura, and he drew it back for the killing blow. The world slowed for the lavender-haired Joketsuzoku, and she watched as the sword moved forward, inexorable in its path to her heart.

A few tears finally escaped her eyes as a life too short passed before her eyes. Thoughts of her friends Mousse and Perfume, sadness that she would never know the life of a true warrior, and fear of her true punishment. Death was not enough for someone who violated the forbidden temple; the true punishment was to have your soul locked away in a pool of water. The final and most severe punishment in Jusendo: to become the curse of a new pool of Jusenkyo.

Shampoo would be resigned to spend eternity trapped within her pool, only able to leave when another was cursed, and then only a small amount of her awareness went with the cursed individual. It was truly hell on earth.

Suddenly, a blur of white cloth and dark hair plowed into the Emperor of the Musk, knocking him from his pole. As the man fell away from the surprise attack, the blur resolved itself into what looked to be a ten-year-old boy wearing a dingy gi. The boy's hair was pulled back into a tight pigtail, and Shampoo felt her knees weaken at her rescuer's confident, cocky smirk as he landed lightly on the pole just vacated by the Musk Emperor. That smirk turned into a real smile as he turned to face her. "You okay?" he asked in badly accented Mandarin.

"Look out!" Normally, Shampoo would have replied to his question politely, but keeping her rescuer from death or curse seemed like a higher priority. However, the purple-haired Amazon's eyes widened as the boy jumped just before she spoke, leaping over her great grandmother's staff and landing lightly on it.

Shampoo's and Cologne's eyes widened as the boy turned his landing into a low round house that caught the old woman in the face, and as the Matriarch was launched from his foot, the martial artist jumped again. With a twist, the pigtailed boy landed facing Shampoo once again.

"You okay?" he said again. "They no bother girl no more."

Shampoo couldn't answer. Her eyes were the size of saucers, and her mouth hung open. The boy had just managed to sneak up on two of the greatest martial artists in the world and successfully attack both. The violet-haired Joketsuzoku was completely overwhelmed by the whole episode; how could an outsider boy, younger than her by his looks, do what he had just done. It was, in a word, impossible. After a moment, the boy spoke again, his accent heavy and his speech broken. "You hear Ranma? You okay. Ranma no want girl be cursed or hurt. Say you is okay. Please?"

Finally, Shampoo shook herself from the shock of the situation. Blinking, she finally regained enough bodily control to answer. "I'm alright," she said, her voice still musical even though she was out of breath. "You shouldn't have interfered, though. Now they will include you in the trial."

"Trial?" Ranma replied. "What trial? All Ranma see is not-honorable people attack girl. Is martial artist duty to protect. I come, protect."

Shampoo was about to answer him when she saw that her opponents had recovered. The Amazon knew that Ranma was, according to the law, a part of the trial now. For interfering, he would be treated as though he had committed her crime, and he would now share her punishment. As the Matriarch and the Emperor began to jump from pole to pole toward her and the young boy, Shampoo pointed toward them and said, "No time to talk now! Look!"

Ranma turned, a look of surprise briefly flashing across his face, but determination quickly replaced surprise as he dropped into a fighting stance on his pole. Shampoo did the same, and the two young martial artists waited in silence for their enemies.

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Cologne gently rubbed her face where the child had kicked her as she hung from a pole fifteen meters away, the stinging sensation slowly fading. What had happened was absolutely impossible: an outsider child had won an exchange of blows with a Joketsuzoku Matriarch. When the pigtailed boy had blindsided the Emperor of the Musk, Cologne thought that only surprise was on his side. He certainly had some skill to reach their battlefield, but he couldn't possibly be strong enough to stand up to an actual attack from a true Joketsuzoku. Obviously, she had sorely underestimated the youth.

'How could a child be that strong?' she thought. 'It would take tremendously rigorous training, and I've never seen a child outside the village who was able to stand up to such a regimen. In fact, most children in the village couldn't do what he just did! It is unfortunate that he is now involved; that boy would have made an excellent husband to one of the warriors when he gets older.'

After a few moments to catch her breath and gather her thoughts, the ancient Matriarch jumped to the top of the nearest pole. A brief glance around told her that Emperor Herb XIX stood atop a pole not three meters from her, and that he was understandably upset at how the child had struck him just as the man was going to end the trial.

Catching the elder Herb's eye, Cologne nodded, and received a return of the same. They both knew the law: the boy was now a part of the trial and would be dealt with as though he'd committed the same crime. With that purpose in mind and the knowledge that the boy was not to be underestimated, the two leaders of Jusendo began to jump from pole to pole toward their targets.

Just as the battle was about to be rejoined, though, an ominous rumbling sound reached the Matriarch's ears, and her eyes momentarily widened in fear. She had just enough time to shout, "Damn it! It already broke free!", before a violent earthquake threw everyone off of their respective poles.

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Ranma held his stance as the two aggressors of the battle began to make their way toward him. Suddenly, a rumbling sound reached his ears, and just as the wrinkled creature yelled something in Chinese, a violent tremor rocked the entire training ground, knocking everyone from their poles. As he fell, Ranma saw that his father had followed, and unfortunately, he was also falling toward a spring. The pigtailed martial artist didn't even cry out as the waters of one of the many pools of sorrow enveloped him.

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Genma leapt from pole to pole to try to catch his son, but he could already see it was too late. Ranma barreled into one of the two attackers, knocking the tall man from his pole. Before the bald man could blink, the wrinkled creature attacked with its staff, and Genma almost burst with pride as Ranma jumped to stand on the gnarled staff, turning his landing into a low-sweeping roundhouse that caught the ancient woman in the face.

As both aggressors were thrown away from the battle, Genma slowed. He could see his son speaking briefly with the Chinese girl who had originally been the point of the attack, but he increased his speed once more as he saw their enemies recover and advance on the two children again.

The elder Saotome was angry. Not only were those two dishonorable in battle, but they were willing to attack children. Even that wasn't the worst of it: they were actually attacking his son. The man's face twisted into a snarl, and he readied himself to attack with everything, even the Forbidden Techniques if necessary.

Just then, the female component of the enemy contingent yelled something in Mandarin, but Genma had no chance to translate as the earth beneath his pole began to shake. The master of the Saotome-style Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu tried to leap to another pole, but the massive rumbling threw him from his perch before he could. Genma's eyes widened as he fell toward a pool, his mind replaying what the Guide had told him.

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Cologne barely managed to snag another pole before she fell into one of the springs, her breath ragged from the close call. A quick look around showed the Emperor floating lightly above a pole, a contemptuous, angry look directed at the world in general. It also displayed three falling bodies, one of which was her great granddaughter. Cologne had never wanted to try Shampoo by Jusenkyo, but treading in the forbidden ground and possibly releasing the Destroyer could have no other punishment.

The trial was now over; Jusenkyo's judgment was final. The ancient Matriarch knew that the Musk leader wanted to give out the most severe punishment that Jusenkyo could offer, but the curse and exile were enough to satisfy the law. It was strange to be happy that her former heir was now cursed, but if that allowed her to survive, Cologne could live with it. Nodding to Emperor Herb, Cologne sprang to the top of a pole some seven meters away and began her solemn trek home. Before she had gone too far, the Emperor of the Musk flashed his aura and left in another direction, the angry look never leaving his face. Cologne couldn't help but smile at his reaction: he knew his hands were now tied.

After a moment, however, the smile faded as though it had never been. Cologne's thoughts were now only of her people. The Destroyer was free, and the Joketsuzoku needed to be ready.

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Ranma pulled himself upward through the water, striving for life-giving oxygen, but the pool was far deeper than it had appeared from the surface. His body felt somewhat strange, but not like he imagined he would feel if he'd been transformed into something else. He still felt like himself.

Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity of swimming, rushing for the boundary between water and air, the young martial artist's head broke the surface. Gulping huge mouthfuls of sweet air, Ranma slowly made his way to the edge of the pool. Just as he was about to climb out, a black and white, furry paw reached down and snagged his hand. Ranma cried out in surprise and began to struggle as the paw raised him from the water. The pigtailed youth's struggles ceased as the large creature, which he now recognized as a giant panda, set him on the ground.

Before Ranma had a chance to contemplate his strange rescuer, the Guide approached. The man said something in Mandarin, but Ranma was in no state of mind to translate. After a moment the Guide switched to Japanese.

"Oh sirs," he said in his accented voice. "Is too too bad you fall in springs. I think you not be cursed since listen to warning. Is very tragic."

"What are you talking about?" asked Ranma, perplexed at why he hadn't changed. "I'm not cursed."

The panda growfed at the redhead, and Ranma suddenly noticed the bright, wet red hair hanging limply from his forehead. Reaching up hesitantly, the young martial artist pulled the hair away from his face for a better look. After a few moments of examination, Ranma looked at the Guide questioningly, no longer so certain he'd made it through the spring without a curse.

"Why is my hair red?" Ranma asked, voice quivering ever so slightly.

The Guide frowned as he answered, his eyes showing sadness. "Is too too tragic, young Mr. Customer. You fall in Nyannichuan, Spring of Drown Girl. Tragic tale of girl what drown there one thousand five hundred year ago. Now you girl when splash with cold water."

Ranma's eyes widened more with every word. Just to be sure, the martial artist slowly patted down. Slightly raised mounds of flesh where flat skin had once been...rounder hips that accounted for the change in balance...Ranma's face showed fear for the first time in many years as he reached into his pants.

"Gaaahhh!!" With that one scream, the red-haired girl fainted.

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Ranma's cheeks burned crimson as Genma finished the tale of Jusenkyo. At least Genma hadn't embarrassed him more by telling them about how he'd fainted. After a moment more of staring at the floor in abject embarrassment, Ranma looked up to see the Ainos' expressions. He expected disbelief, or worse, pity. The boy's eyes opened wide in surprise as he found himself staring into another set of blue eyes a mere two centimeters from his own.

"Wow!" said Minako, her voice almost bubbling with excitement. "That's so amazing! You're really that red-haired girl from earlier? Cool!"

Her exuberance was almost too much for the Saotome heir, and he slid away from her. Unfortunately, since he was sliding backwards, he didn't notice the glass of water on the table next to his father. One quick splash later and Minako had her answer.

"That is soooo cool!" she gushed, and the redhead suddenly found herself being examined by a very, very inquisitive ten-year-old blonde. As Minako made sure Ranma really was a girl, the redhead in question was quivering. Ranma wasn't exactly certain why she was trembling, but she knew she was. After a moment more, the pigtailed girl could take no more.

"Stop it!" Ranma cried, pushing Minako away, but she quickly recanted when she saw the blonde's trembling lower lip and the just barely unshed tears in her eyes. "It's okay, Minako. Just don't touch me like that, okay?"

Immediately, the tears were gone. Minako smiled brightly at the other girl. "No problem, Ranma. We're friends now, right?"

Ranma nodded hesitantly, and Minako redoubled her incredibly kawaii smile. After a moment more of looking at her, Ranma turned back to the table. It seemed that the adults had become friends as well: all three were toasting with small cups of warm sake. The pigtailed martial artist knew what this usually meant, and she didn't feel like being around three drunken adults. Taking Minako by the hand, she said, "Can I see your room? I think the grown ups wanna talk, and you know how boring that is."

Minako nodded enthusiastically and lead Ranma upstairs.

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Author's notes

Okay, this took a damn long time, and I'm sorry for that. Real life is a real drag.... Bad pun, I know, but true. Also, this isn't the update I promised, but I'm just gonna have to say 'deal with it.' I just couldn't get any inspiration for Three, so here's an update for Blood and Darkness. Not even close, I know, but oh well. Later, all.


	4. Chapter 4

Blood and Darkness

A crossover fanfic by jimra

I don't own 'em; lets just leave it at that. Also, the timelines of the animes I'm crossing are a little skewed, but if you didn't know that I'd have to tell you to go back and read from chapter one. I'm not repeating this timeline screw-up warning again, so just deal with it.

Chapter Four

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Minako's bright grin never faltered as she took her new friend up to her room, leading the pigtailed girl by the hand. Even if the other girl wasn't always a girl, it was always nice to have new friends, boys or girls. As they reached the top of the stairs, the blonde looked through the open door to her room, occupying the entirety of the attic, and suddenly she felt her new friend freeze.

"C—c—ca—" Ranma stuttered, and Minako saw why. On her bed, Artemis was lounging contentedly, watching them with curious eyes.

The blonde ten-year-old looked at her friend in sympathy, and released the frozen girl's hand in favor of rushing into her room and shooing the white moon cat into her closet. Looking back, Ranma had visibly relaxed once the feline was safely out of sight.

Motioning Ranma to enter, Minako sat lightly on her bed. "Why are you scared of cats, anyway?"

The redhead shook her head, replying, "I don't wanna talk about it. Let's just say I had a very bad experience with them in the past and leave it at that."

Shrugging, Minako assented. "So what's it like, being a boy?"

The red-haired child cocked her head to the side, obviously puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"Well," replied the blonde, "you're the only person I know who can switch between being a boy and a girl, so I was just wondering what's it like."

Ranma shrugged. "It's not much different, really. My balance is a bit different, and there are a few different parts, but overall it's pretty much the same. I mean, I'm still me whether I'm a boy or a girl."

Minako nodded, saying, "That's good. Are you going to go to school with me on Monday?"

"I dunno," Ranma answered. "I guess, but I don't know how long Oyaji plans on staying."

"Dad hasn't been talking about anything else since your father phoned from France," the blonde replied enthusiastically, "so if Dad has any say in the matter, you'll be here a while. How's your English?"

Switching to the language, the redhead answered, "Better than my Chinese or French, but not perfect."

Going along with the language shift, Minako said in English, "Then we'd better use it from now on. That's the only way you'll get any better."

The redhead nodded to the blonde, but Minako preempted any reply the other girl might have had, asking, "What happened after you got cursed? Your dad said it was about a year ago."

"Well, that girl I saved, Shampoo, tagged along with us for about two months until this other guy, someone originally from her village, showed up. By that time, we were in Mongolia, and Mousse, that was the guy's name, said that he had voluntarily chosen exile in order to travel with Shampoo. They stayed with us for another two weeks, but when Oyaji said we were heading for Europe, they decided against coming with us. They left together, but I don't think Shampoo was too happy with traveling with the duck."

"Duck?" inquired Minako.

Ranma looked sheepish for a moment before explaining. "Yeah, apparently Mousse had been late to the fight where we met Shampoo, and he managed to walk right into the Spring of Drowned Duck. He's got really bad eyes, and even with his glasses he has a hard time seeing. On top of that, he doesn't even wear them half the time."

The blonde girl laughed at that one, motioning the redhead to continue.

"After that, it was just me and Dad," Ranma said. "We passed through Kazakhstan, Russia, the Ukraine, Romania…."

When Ranma trailed off, a troubled look in her eyes, Minako asked, "What happened in Romania?"

The older girl looked a bit reluctant to talk about it, but visibly taking hold of herself, she said, "I saw my first daemon in Romania."

Minako's eyes widened at that, but remembering what Artemis had said about keeping her identity as Sailor V a secret, the blonde remained silent, letting Ranma speak.

"It was worse than the one I saw last night," the redhead continued. "The…thing…nearly killed me, and that's when Dad started teaching me the forbidden techniques."

The pigtailed girl seemed to brighten at that last bit, saying, "Now those are some powerful techniques."

Realizing that Ranma definitely didn't want to talk about the daemon in Romania, Minako asked, "What happened next?"

"Well," answered the redhead, "then we passed through Slovakia, Austria, Switzerland—the Alps aren't as hard to climb as the Bayankala range, by the way—France, and finally, we swam across the English Channel before getting here."

"And you traveled all that way on foot?" asked Minako in awe.

"Most of it," answered Ranma, pride obvious in her voice. "We occasionally hitched a ride, but we really only did that if the weather was bad. Mainly we just hoofed it. Pop called it training, though sometimes I think it was just because he was cheap."

Minako giggled at that, and Ranma asked, "Anyway, tell me about your school. If you're right about me and Dad staying here awhile, I'm sure he'll want me to go to school."

As their conversation moved into a more mundane realm, as opposed to many year training journeys that spanned half the globe, Minako was sure that she had found a fast friend in Ranma.

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Ranma's day passed in a pleasant-enough fashion, from talking to Minako for most of the morning to lunch, and after having fish and chips cooked by her new blonde friend's mother and using some hot water to return to his birth gender, Ranma decided to ask Minako to show him around the neighborhood. Minako, for her part, was an extremely cheerful tour guide, and although she was only ten years old, she seemed very knowledgeable about the local area. Walking from the Aino home, Minako led Ranma around the neighborhood, pointing out the school both would attend on Monday morning, her church, the nearest convenience store, and finally, the small park. When they arrived at this last place, the blonde girl raced over to the swing set, laughing as she began to swing. Ranma, being his usually dedicated self, set about training on the grassy area between the swings and the sandbox, his body flowing through more and more complex kata. Staying in a state of mushin for his kata, Ranma lost track of time, because when he came back to himself at Minako's beckoning, the sun had almost set, the sky a panoramic painting of soft blues, yellows, and reds over the skyline of London.

"I bet Mom has almost finished dinner, Ranma," said the chipper blonde, her words reminding Ranma that a long workout had given him an ravenous appetite, and the pigtailed boy's stomach gave a loud grumble, much to his embarrassment. Scratching the back of his head underneath his pigtail, Ranma replied, "Then I guess we should be getting back."

Nodding, Minako led Ranma back to the Aino townhouse, and sure enough, the delicious smells cooking nabeudon drew the two children into the kitchen to see Aino Achika standing at the stove, watching over the boiling pot.

"Hi Ranma-kun, Minako-chan," greeted the Aino matriarch in their native language. "I thought you might like a taste of home tonight, Ranma-kun. I hope you like nabeudon."

Smiling enthusiastically, Ranma nodded rapidly, his eyes focused raptly on the cooking food. A moment later, Achika said, "Why don't you two go wash up before dinner?"

Agreeing with the elder Aino's request, Minako and Ranma walked to the stairs, Minako saying, "You can have the shower first, Ranma. Just tell me when you're done." With that, the young blonde walked into the living room.

Thanking her, Ranma showered quickly, and returning about ten minutes later, he told Minako that the shower was free.

Finally, about half an hour after the duo arrived home, Achika called the occupants of the house to the table for dinner, but before Ranma could enter the dining room, his father took him aside.

"Ranma," said Genma, his voice serious, "I don't want to offend Aino-kun and his family, so we should avoid speed training over meals while we are here."

"But—" Ranma began, but Genma cut him off.

"Just do it, son."

Sighing at losing one of his favorite training methods, Ranma nodded in resignation, and larger man smiled, saying, "Don't worry, boy. I'm sure we'll take plenty of training trips out into the countryside while we're here."

Without another word, the Saotomes entered the dining room. It seemed that Aino Achika was a very good cook, and after consuming a wonderful meal of nabeudon, pickles, rice, and tea, Ranma and Minako went to watch television in the living room while the adults talked at the table over after-dinner drinks.

At a little past nine, Minako's father entered the room, saying, "Ranma, Minako, you two should be getting to bed soon. We have to get up early for church in the morning."

"Church?" asked Ranma, his voice confused. "But Oyaji and I are Shinto."

"While you're living here," answered the Aino patriarch, "your father has agreed that both of you will attend church with the family."

Considering he wasn't really a practicing Shintoist, Ranma shrugged at that, and Minako said, "Don't worry about it, Ranma. Our church is really nice."

"Okay," Ranma replied, still dubious about the idea. With that, Minako led Ranma upstairs, and bidding him goodnight at the door to the room he shared with his father, the blonde girl continued upstairs to her room.

Entering the bedroom, Ranma was surprised to see that the single, queen-sized bed he had slept on the previous night was gone, replaced by two twin-sized bed. Stripping down to his boxers and undershirt, Ranma lay down on the bed closer to the window, attempting to sleep.

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Entering her room, Minako changed into a pair of yellow and orange print pajamas, and as she relaxed on her bed, she spoke with Artemis. The cat was curious about the new guests in the house, so Minako related the story that Ranma and his father had told the family that morning.

"Ranma is really nice, don't you think?" the blonde asked her venusian guardian, a smile on her face as she thought of her new friend.

"He certainly has led an interesting life, Mina-chan," replied Artemis. "If even half of his story is true, and I don't doubt it after seeing that curse in action, then he's on par with you."

Thinking of the activities of her alter ego, Minako couldn't help but agree with the small white cat. Thinking of Sailor V, Minako looked at the clock on her nightstand. Reading that it was eleven-thirty, she said, "Actually, I had better get to work."

Nodding agreement, Artemis jumped off of her chest, and Minako produced her henshin stick, whispering, "Venus Power, Make Up."

Thankfully, the show of light and power that accompanied her Senshi transformation didn't include any sound effects, and the shade over her window prevented anyone outside the room from seeing the luminous yellow flash of the transformation. A moment later, Sailor Venus stood in Aino Minako's bedroom, and producing a small, crescent-shaped and bejeweled object, Venus' costume blurred, changing into the ubiquitous blue-skirted and red-bowed clothing of Sailor V. As the red mask appeared on the young superhero's face, V said, "Artemis, remind me again why I have to change my costume when I transform."

"I'm not entirely sure, V," answered the white venusian guardian. "I just have orders from Central that you need to change the way you look while we're in England."

Shrugging, V replied, "Oh well. Anyway, I'll see you in a few hours, Artemis."

V barely saw his answering nod before she opened the window, and easily dropping the three stories to the street, London's youngest hero began her nightly patrols.

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Ranma was almost asleep when a strange feeling returned him to full consciousness, and without knowing why, the pigtailed boy sat up on his bed, gazing out of the window. Something didn't feel right about this night, and the sense of wrongness seemed to pull at the young boy. Glancing over to his father, the old man being sound asleep after stumbling into the room earlier, smelling of sake, Ranma decided that he could investigate the feeling alone. Dressing quickly, the pigtailed martial artist opened the window over his bed, dropping lightly to the ground and racing off toward whatever was causing his uneasiness.

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V was about halfway through her planned patrol route when she saw the mugger, a man trying to steal from a young couple at knifepoint, and the young crime fighter jumped into action. Without bothering to warn the mugger, V fired off two beams of her trademark yellow energy, striking the knife-wielding man in the left shoulder and leg. The man went down, but he quickly recovered, running from the little blonde in the seifuku. A grin formed on V's lips as she chased after the criminal, firing more beams in an attempt to steer the man toward a police box, and her plan was apparently successful as two of London's finest tried to stop the fleeing mugger. Unfortunately, the nimble criminal managed to dodge the club-wielding officers, ducking into an alley in an attempt to evade pursuit, and the two law enforcers joined the chase. As V raced past the two officers, she was surprised to see that one of them was the young strawberry-blonde officer that had tried to assist her against the daemon the previous night, but such thoughts were pushed to the periphery of her mind as the mugger picked up speed.

Realizing that her smaller stature gave adults an advantage, physically, against her, the blonde Senshi raised her right hand, and taking careful aim, V fired off another beam, striking the mugger in the back of his knee. The man went down atop a manhole cover in the middle of the street, clutching at the mild burn on his leg, and V stopped, allowing the police to run past her to apprehend the criminal. The little superhero watched as the older officer, a balding man looking to be in his mid-fifties, roughly hauled the would-be mugger off the ground and cuff him while the younger officer lifted her radio, calling for a wagon.

Smiling at yet another criminal apprehended, V was about to leave when everything went wrong.

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Seras stood on the curb, watching as her partner/superior pulled the suspect to his feet and handcuffed him, and the Cadet-Officer pulled her radio from its place on her belt, calling for a wagon. After getting an affirmative from dispatch, the young officer turned toward V, opening her mouth to thank the little crime fighter, but a loud crash followed by a sickening crunch refocused her attention on the street.

Somehow, the manhole cover on which the suspect had fallen was now on top of the man's head, and by the blood she could see pooling under his head, it had caused a rather nasty head injury. Automatically, Seras called dispatch and requested an ambulance, and before she had finished the call, Sailor V had already raced to the suspect's side, lifting the cover off of his head without apparent effort. As the young police officer moved to the suspect's other side, gently checking his vital signs, she could see her partner, club in hand, cautiously approaching the now open manhole. The suspect wasn't dead, but considering the fractures she could see on his skull, he would probably wish he were.

Her partner's scream immediately refocused Seras' attention, and she was shocked to see him halfway in the manhole, a look of terror and pain on his face. Thrashing, the older man scrabbled his fingers on the street, bloody trails forming on the asphalt as he vainly sought purchase. Seras and V raced forward, intent on helping him, and each blonde grabbed one of his blood-slicked hands, desperately trying to pull the man to safety. For a moment, it seemed like their efforts would succeed, but with a sickening wet crunch and a piercing scream from her partner, the older officer came out of the manhole sans his legs.

It took all of Seras will to avoid vomiting on the spot, but she managed to keep her wits enough to tear off her uniform blouse and apply pressure in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Her partner stopped screaming, and looking up, Seras saw that he had passed out, hopefully from the pain or shock rather than blood loss. V, for her part, was standing there, her face a study in fear and horror, but another voice, one speaking Japanese, snapped the little superhero out of her stupor. Seras chanced another look away from her lifesaving work and was surprised to see Genma Saotome's son standing in the street, staring at the macabre tableau.

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Ranma stared in momentary shock at the scene before him, horror suffusing his being, but the pigtailed boy snapped out of it quickly. Rushing forward, he began to remove the injured police officer's belt.

"What are you doing?" asked the strawberry-blonde police officer.

"He's going to need tourniquets to stop the bleeding," Ranma replied, not ceasing his work. "Take off your belt for the other leg."

The officer blinked once before complying, and by the time the young martial artist had removed the wounded man's belt, the police girl already had her belt around the man's left stump, pulling hard to cut off the blood flow. Ranma quickly copied her actions on the man's right.

"What happened?" asked the dark-haired boy.

"Something in that manhole tore off his legs," replied the young officer, tears in her eyes.

Clenching his jaw in anger, Ranma handed the police girl the belt he was tightening, and with a cold glint in his eyes, the blue-eyed boy stood and walked over to the blonde.

"You handled yourself pretty well yesterday," Ranma said without preamble. "Can you back me up?"

The young blonde looked terrified, but she nodded nonetheless. Nodding in reply, Ranma led the way toward the manhole, pausing only a moment to answer when the police officer asked, "What are you doing?"

"Killing whatever did this to him."

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Sailor V was surprised when Ranma asked her to back him up, and despite her intense fear, she nodded to the pigtailed boy, somewhat unnerved by the look in his eyes. They walked toward the manhole, the icy terror in her belly making her ignore the brief exchange between the officer and her pigtailed friend, and when they reached the yawning black opening, Ranma stared intently into the darkness.

V gathered some of her power into her hand, and a bright yellow sphere of energy appeared over her outstretched palm. A moment later, she dropped the improvised ball of light into the shadowed opening, and the two devil hunters got a look at what had taken the older officer's legs. It appeared to be a giant frog with yellow-orange, scaly skin and solid red eyes, and even as V was making the comparison, the daemon opened its mouth, revealing eight-centimeter, needle-like teeth. Before she could make any further observations, the creature's tongue whipped out, flying like lightning, and it was only by the thinnest margins that she was able to jump over the long, brown appendage.

A growl coming from her companion made her look up, and for a moment, their eyes met in silent communication. 'Are you ready?' Ranma's eyes seemed to ask, and V nodded. A moment later, the two fighters dropped into the storm drain, Ranma leading the way.

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After jumping over the beast's tongue, Ranma decided that it was time for the creature to die, and after confirming that he wasn't going to be alone in fighting the daemon, the pigtailed martial artist dropped into the manhole. As soon as his feet hit the ground, the frog creature jumped forward, it's mouth open as though to swallow him whole, but fortunately, a blast of yellow power from his companion struck the beast, knocking it off course enough for Ranma to dodge its attack. Though the daemon looked clumsy, it moved like lightning, and the pigtailed boy found himself hard pressed to avoid getting caught by the creature's tongue or clawed feet as it leapt madly around the storm drain.

Finally, deciding enough is enough, Ranma met the beast on its next charge, crying out, "Mouko Kaimon Ha!" Using his forearms to block the daemon's clawed limbs, the pigtailed boy planted a devastatingly hard flying kick into the beast's chin, snapping its gaping maw shut. The kick was powerful enough to send the daemon flying, and as it hit the wall, the blonde with him fired a powerful beam at the creature, severing one of its forelimbs.

Ranma smirked as the beast howled in anger and pain, and when it charged again, he thought, 'Now it's time to end this.'

Meeting the daemon's charge once more, Ranma called out, "Geimon Tetsu Sen Shi!" Stiffening his fingers with his ki, the pigtailed boy used the devastating Welcome Gates Iron Fan Fingers from the Yamasenken to drive his right hand deep into the beast's chest. Once his arm was buried up to his elbow, Ranma clenched his hand into a fist and twisted, the creature screaming in pain. Finally, Ranma pulled his arm out of the daemon's body and leapt back, shaking the appendage to remove the daemon's thick green blood. Surprisingly, the creature was still alive, but Ranma's companion rectified that by building up a surprising amount of her trademark yellow energy and blasting the daemon with a powerful beam aimed at the large wound the martial artist had put in the beast's chest. With a final cry of pain, the daemon slumped to the ground, its body rapidly decomposing into a puddle of green goo.

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V slumped against the wall after firing off the most powerful blast she had ever produced, but the small blonde Senshi had a tired smile on her face. Still shaking his blood-covered arm Ranma walked over to her, saying, "Good work. Say, I don't even know your name."

"I'm Sailor V," the girl replied.

"Sao—er Ranma Saotome," the pigtailed boy replied. "I'd offer to shake your hand, but…."

"No problem," answered the magical girl, eyeing the boy's hand.

Ranma glanced about, and a moment later, he walked over to a pool of runoff water, rinsing off his hand and inadvertently transforming into a girl. The redhead sighed, sounding annoyed, as the curse took effect.

"Damn it," Ranma muttered, "you'd think that after having this curse for a year, I'd remember it when I go to wash up."

By this time, V could hear quite a commotion from above, and she said, "I think we ought to make ourselves scarce, Ranma. I don't want to be out all night giving statements to the police."

Nodding in agreement, Ranma fell into step with V as they walked down the storm drain, intent on leaving the scene of London's latest daemon attack via another manhole.

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After climbing out of the storm drain through a manhole four blocks away, V said, "Well, I should be going. It was nice meeting you, Ranma."

"Likewise," replied the pigtailed girl. "If there are more daemons like that, I'm sure we'll be seeing more of each other."

Nodding cutely, V jumped to a nearby roof, racing away into the night. Ranma watched her go before turning toward the Aino home, her thoughts morose. After a quick, ten-minute walk, the redhead found herself back at the townhouse, and she was relieved to see that the window to the guest room was still open. As she leapt to the sill, something occurred to her: 'Why wasn't Sailor V surprised when I changed into a girl?'

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Author's Notes:

Well, I haven't updated this fic in over four years, so I guess it was due. I hope everyone enjoys it; I've revamped the plot, and in the next couple of chapters, the action is going to heat up. In any case, read, enjoy, and most importantly, review. Later all.


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